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The graphic novel is an artefact of visual images and written words; a complex and expressive form tackling a multitude of issues and themes across the globe. The graphic novel is a tool: of self-expression and personal identity; of cultural understanding and philosophical exploration; of history and hope. Comics and graphic novels traverse themes such as heroism, identity, philosophy, gender, history, and colonialism – and these are just some of the topics encountered on the pages of this diverse collection of perspectives and analyses. Incorporating chapters from authors all over the world, this volume examines and expounds the rich tapestry of meanings, expressions, and cultural insights found in the medium of graphic fiction. From concerns with comics’ definition and history, to examinations of both seminal and neglected works as well as the medium’s future, Cultural Excavation and Formal Expression in the Graphic Novel demonstrates the deeply ingrained relevance of comics to contemporary culture.

Part 2: Autobiography and IdentityValerie Bodell: Comics and Autobiographical IdentityElizabeth MacFarlane: Self Wrought: The Unreliable Narrator / the Unreliable Self in Pat Grant’s BLUE and Mandy Ord’s RooftopsThayse Madella: Otherness in Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis: The Autobiography and the Graphic Novel as a Subversion of the Western GazeLukas Etter: The Protagonists’ Many ‘Wedges’: Aspects of Seriality in Alison Bechdel’s Dykes to Watch Out For

Part 3: Coping with ColonialismEmil Francis M. Flores: Up in the Sky, Feet on the Ground: Cultural Identity in Filipino Superhero KomiksCarljoe Javier: Filipino Humour and the Filipinisation of Foreign Tropes in Macoy’s Taal Volcano Monster vs. Evil Space Paru-ParoMridula Chari: Humour and the Contested City in Indian Graphic Novels

Part 4: The Trauma of HistorySimona Porro: Inevitably Postmodern: The Case of Maus by Art SpiegelmanKotaro Nakagaki: The Atomic Holocaust from the Perspective of Shōjo: From Sanpei Shirato’s A Vanishing Girl to Fumiyo Kōno’s In a Corner of This WorldElisabeth Oxfeldt: Queer Revisionism in Lene Ask’s Graphic Novel Hitler, Jesus and Grandpa (‘Hitler, Jesus og Farfar’)Erin K. Boone: Rejecting the Generalisation of Maus as a ‘Second Generation’ TextSarah Richardson: ‘Perseveration on Detail’: Shame and Confession in Memoir Comics

Part 5: On Alan MooreDerek Frasure: V for Valerie: Lesbianism in V for VendettaMaciej Sulmicki: ‘And All Right, We Need a Woman’: Victimised Heroines and Heroic Victims in Alan Moore’s Quasi-Victorian Graphic NovelsMichael J. Prince: The Individual Subject in Smooth and Striated Space in Alan Moore’s The Ballad of Halo Jones and Saga of the Swamp Thing

Part 6: Philosophy of FormJulia Moszkowicz: Time, Narrative and the Gutter: How Philosophical Thinking Can Make Something Out of NothingThomas Giddens: Towards a Metaphysics of ComicsLeonie Brialey: Sincerity and Speech Balloons: The Shape and Weight of Words in Autobiographical ComicsEleanor Kent: Time of the Photograph, Time of the Comic: Documentary and Art in The Photographer

Part 7: Transgressing Boundaries Simon Bacon: Prequel, Sequel or Equal: The Transmedia Vampire and the Graphic NovelAnna Wołosz: Space and Time in Graphic Novel Adaptations of Shakespeare’s Plays: A Semiotic ApproachAna González-Rivas Fernández and Francisco Saez de Adana: Imaginary Lives: Edgar Allan Poe as a Comic Book CharacterBarry Natusch: Adoption of Graphic Novel Features in Non-Fiction Genres